


Color My World

by Ahowriter (4uKiSS)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Blind!Eren, Crack, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Smut, Threesome - M/M/M, doting!Levi&Erwin, shameless flirting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2016-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:58:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5102009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4uKiSS/pseuds/Ahowriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren wishes that he could see the colors that he painted.</p><p>Having been deprived of his ability to see ever since he could remember, he is left very much to his own imagination when it comes to the world. But then when two men crashes into his life, his gray, dark world is transformed with dashes of bright colors and glorious hues, and Eren learns that he doesn't need eyes to love, he just needs his heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I know, I shouldn't really. I mean, I just posted my first work barely two days ago and here I am belting out another one. I should be shot. But it's EruRiRen, and I cannot help myself, inspiration hit me and my fingers just couldn't stop writing. I will continue both works, no worries, my dear readers, and thank you for the kudos that you so kindly left for me in my first work, you bishies are precious. I wasn't expecting any, and to have even 30 just for the first chapter - as small a number as it may be - I am still overwhelmingly grateful for it. I just hope that this accepts just as much love!

 

Eren is late – again.

His breath comes out in small gasps between his lips as he feels for the door handle. He can hear faint noise inside the room – his groping fingers finds the handle finally and he slides the door open, leaning against the door frame to catch his breath. His arrival doesn’t go unnoticed however; it takes two seconds for him to hear scrambling footsteps followed by an admonishing call of his name.

“Eren! You’re late!”

“I know, Armin,” Eren groans, a small bead of sweat slipping down his cheek. He feels Armin by his side and he automatically puts a hand out for his childhood best friend, who takes his arm. “I forgot to plug in my phone to charge last night, that’s why my alarm didn’t go off this morning.”

Armin tsks as the both of them manoeuvre their way through the noisy class. “No wonder I couldn’t reach you by phone, honestly, Mikasa was having a meltdown when I called her if she knew where you were,” Armin says. Eren’s lips curl into a wry smile as a picture of his adopted sister plays in his mind’s eye. “She nearly ran out of her biomechanics class to look for you.”

“Figures.” Eren shakes his head. He is about to say something when a hand slaps his back and he winces at the sheer force of it, recognizing instantly who it was.

“Kirschtein you bastard, that hurt,” he growls. He hears Jean’s obnoxious laughter somewhere to his left and he frowns when an arm is draped unceremoniously over his shoulders.

“You’re lucky our lecturer hasn’t showed up yet, Jaeger, you know how Brzenska’s like for latecomers in her class,” Jean says in his characteristic drawl that Eren and the rest of their friends often tease him as a horse’s neigh. Eren rolls his eyes, nudging Jean square in the gut, earning an indignant _oof!_ In response for his well-aimed blow.

“Shut up, Kirschtein, you know you only jetted over here just because you heard Mikasa’s name,” he scoffs. Somewhere in front them he hears Reiner’s booming laugh and Connie and Annie’s snickering. It was no secret that Jean is harbouring a crush for Eren’s adopted sister, but the fact that it was very much unrequited and coupled with the fact that Mikasa barely spares Jean the time of the day made it ten times more hilarious if not tragic for the poor guy.

“Nice, Jaeger!” Reiner claps his hand on Eren’s shoulder as he takes a seat next to him. Eren chuckles when he hears Jean’s distinct muttering somewhere to the left of Reiner, where he assumes Marco is seated. “Been wanting to shut up this dude since ten minutes ago – he couldn’t stop fidgeting when Arlert was on the phone with the love of his life.”

“Shut up, Reiner!” Jean hollers, which results in more laughter from their table, and Eren couldn’t help but smile when he hears his friends bicker. They are all students at Trost University, though they are majoring in different degrees. Eren, Jean, Krista and Ymir are in Arts, Armin in Chemical Engineering, Reiner and Mikasa in Sports Science, Marco in Nursing, Bertholdt in Education, Sasha and Connie in Culinary Arts. Even though they have different majors, there were still a few compulsory subjects that they have to take, thus they often find each other in the same classes. Mikasa had entered university a few months earlier than they did, thus she was in none of their compulsory classes as she had already taken them before.

Eren was the only one amongst them to major in Fine Arts though – Jean is taking Sociology, Marco is taking Linguistics and Krista and Ymir in Art History. Eren supposes that the only thing he is actually good at is painting and drawing and the like – he is rarely seen without his sketchbook and pencil, and his room is more or less littered with paints, canvases and various other art utensils that Mikasa is forever scolding him to clean up. Even now he is idly sketching on the blank page of his newest sketchbook – he had exhausted his previous ones and purchased a new one the day before – for an idea for his latest assignment, which was to put onto canvas their own interpretation of monochromatic still life. So far Eren has a few ideas, but stubbornly unsatisfied, tosses them aside in order to pursue a more original idea.

“What’s that you got there, Eren?” He hears Krista’s soft, curious voice over his shoulder, the weight of her small hand coming to rest on his shoulder a moment later.

“My latest assignment from Shadis. Monochromatic still life, minimum three objects in the composition, plus we must show a full value range of lights to mediums to dark tones,” Eren groans, and Krista clicks her tongue sympathetically. “It’s driving me nuts – it’s due in two weeks, and we must show him a draft of our composition by Friday.”

“Sounds tough. We learned about still life last week – I mean, it _looks_ easy, but what most people don’t realize that still life is one of the hardest forms of art out there,” Krista says, and Eren nods with feeling. He hears Krista squeak and feels the added presence of another person behind him, and his assumption of who that person might be proves to be correct when Ymir cheerfully bellows, “Yo, Jaeger! How’s our resident Picasso doing?”

“Shh, Ymir!” Krista chastises her girlfriend as a general disquiet falls around the room; Eren assuming that all attention is currently spotlighted on their group – he could certainly feel multiple eyes on him and he turns around hoping that his dagger-like glare is pinpointed in Ymir’s general direction.

“Oh chill out, hon, it’s not like anyone here doesn’t know who Eren is,” Ymir drawls lazily and Eren groans, dropping his head onto the table dramatically. “That’s it,” he whines pitifully. “My life, my reputation, it’s over.”

“Oh stop being such a sap, Jaeger and lighten up.” Ymir cuffs the back of his head lightly and Eren only snorts in response. “So, anyone here wanna join my sweetheart Krista and me to the cinema after classes? It’s Wednesday, the first six seats at student price comes completely free! Who’s the lucky four who is gonna save my wallet today?”

“Sorry, Ymir, I have research to do, I’m heading straight to the lab after classes,” Armin says sympathetically from Eren’s right. He has been quiet all throughout the group’s discussions and bickering, and Eren assumes that must be because his head is buried in another book most probably related to his major.

“No can do, Ymir, today’s the day where I’m going to organize my fitness class for my project,” Reiner booms. “It’s going to stretch over three hours, so I’ll probably finish late evening.”

“That’s two out, what about you, Jaeger? Don’t disappoint me!” Ymir pokes a finger into Eren’s side, making him flinch. “Sorry Ymir, I’m working the night shift at the café today, I’m out,” he says, massaging his tender side. Ymir snorts. “You guys are a bunch of wussies! Oi, Kirschtein, Bott, Springer, if you guys chicken out and give me some lame ass excuse I’m going to kick your asses so hard you won’t be able to sit on it for a week!”

“Not going to happen, Ymir, I’m not going to sit in some theatre watching you two suck face,” Jean derides, only to yelp in pain when Ymir slaps him upside the back of his head. “ _Ow_! The fuck was that for, Ymir!”

“For running your horse mouth, Kirschtein,” Ymir scoffs, and Eren could practically feel the start of an argument coming on if the door hadn’t slid open at that very moment, indicating that their late lecturer was here. As his friends scramble to find their seats and settle down, Eren closes his sketchbook and puts it aside, sighing in relief as class finally started.

*

Eren wishes that he could see the colours that he painted.

Having been deprived of his ability to see ever since he could remember, he is left very much to his own imagination when it comes to the world. Being blind, Eren sharpened and honed his other senses to a point where he could very well be mistaken as a rogue animal, as his sense of hearing is equal to an owl’s, his sense of smell as sensitive as a canine’s and his own sixth sense and ability to sense other’s presence or pinpoint their exact direction is astounding. Eren’s doctor commented that he might as well have sight, for Eren has an uncanny habit of looking straight at a person’s eyes even though he couldn’t see. Eren makes up for the loss of his eyesight with the other aspects of his being, and altogether proved that he doesn’t appear to be missing things in life even though he is trapped in eternal darkness.

Sometimes though, Eren wishes that he could see. He wants to see the results his own hands yield whenever he finishes a painting or a drawing. He wishes that he doesn’t have to wait for other people to describe to him how his own works look like or how a new person looks like when he is introduced to them. He wishes that he doesn’t have to be restricted to his white cane whenever he is walking, or to be guided by one of his friends whenever they go somewhere new or a place that he isn’t very familiar with. There are a lot of things that Eren wishes for, but he tries not to dwell on it, for it will only disturb his mental health and to put it honestly, he is in a very good place right now since he had clawed his way out of his fatal depression once before.

It almost always amazes people when they find out that Eren’s blind, because according to them, Eren’s eyes are extremely and breathtakingly beautiful. They are an iridescent, brilliant emerald green; dotted with unfiltered tinges of pure cerulean blue and ringed with a lush black; vivid, incandescent and _blazing_ with life. His friends often declare that they could see the universe in his eyes, and even if Eren himself can’t see the universe, he’s glad that at the very least, others could see it in him.

 

*

 

The clock on the wall across from him chimes, rousing Eren from his momentary day-dream. It is four o’clock in the afternoon – business is slow and the café is quiet, with only a few lingering customers – two students and one lone woman, if Eren’s memory serves him correctly. It is usually quiet after the afternoon lunch rush – Krista, who works with him, is wiping down the tables whilst Eren stays at the register.

Eren retrieves his sketchbook and pencil from the drawer underneath the register. The café’s speakers are crooning a selection of 90s hits, and the nostalgic music coupled with the serene quiet of the café inspires Eren to move his pencil. He hears Krista’s footsteps approach the register and he looks up.

“Eren, I’m going upstairs to see if there’s anything to clean up there, think you can hold up the front house for a while?”

Krista is referring to the café’s first floor, which serves as a bookstore or library in one. It is one of the reasons why the café was so popular in the Trost district despite other competing coffee franchises, including the ever popular Starbucks. The stairs leading to the first floor is a black, circular iron staircase, whereupon you are faced with a dozen pinewood shelves stacked neatly with books arranged according to genre and author’s last names. There is an informal seating area scattered with huge, different-coloured beanbags on a lush, felt white carpet, which is normally crowded with both college and high school students. There is a counter in the front by the staircase for anyone who would want to purchase books. Eren and the other workers regularly rotate their shifts, so each one of them would have to operate the first floor at least three times a week. Since the entire south wall of the café is a huge floor-to-ceiling glass wall, the café and first floor is normally flooded with abundant natural light, and it often serves as a popular hangout for the younger generation.

“Sure, no problem,” he answers, smiling as Krista chuckles and walks away. Eren looks back down at his sketchbook, fingers feeling the slight indentations on the page to see where he had left off before continuing his idle sketching once more.

 _If I can’t get this done by tomorrow, I’m going to need to ask Shadis for some help._ Eren frowns. It isn’t that he is empty of ideas, but he is a stubborn perfectionist when it came to his art, and if he didn’t _feel_ that his art is right, he often discards it, no matter how much his friends or peers protest that it is beautiful or ingenious. He doesn’t know how many minutes had passed by, but he nearly missed hearing the chime of the door opening due to his intense concentration on his sketching.

“Hello, welcome to the Book Nook, how may I help you?” It is a rehearsed mantra by now, and Eren stands from his stool, putting his sketchbook away in the drawer underneath the register. He hears a slight pause, and by sheer instinct Eren knows that this must be a new customer – customers who are new to the place often pauses to look around the place, taking in the homey yet luxurious interior, followed by the first floor, that is visible from the café’s floor.

“Not a bad place you found here, Eyebrows.” A deep, male voice drawls, and Eren raises an eyebrow as a low, baritone chuckle follows after the statement.

_Eyebrows? Really?_

“Thank you for your eternal faith in me, Levi.” The same low, baritone voice says in amusement, and this time Eren’s ears catch the sound of footsteps approaching the register – one heavy, one light. He schools his face into a smile, sensing the pair’s presence right before him.

“One Mocha Affogato please. Levi?” It is the male with the low baritone voice who speaks. Levi, Eren assumes, is his companion.

“Irish coffee, please.”

“One Mocha Affogato and one Irish coffee. Is that to go or to have here?” Eren carefully punches in the orders on the register, having been intimately familiar with the machine, he operates it almost as effortlessly as his own co-workers.

“Both to go, please.”

“Alright, please wait a moment.” Eren turns away from them, stepping towards the coffee bar to start on their drinks. _Affogato and Irish coffee, two premium drinks that no one usually orders. They must be businessmen, or something of the like._ Eren thinks idly as he feels for the cups and starts to brew the coffee. Behind him, he can hear snippets of the pair’s conversation as he works.

“Zackly fucked up the contract again, that stupid idiot. We’re going to have to write up an appeal again if we’re planning to merge with the Regiment.”

There is a huff of amusement. “Perhaps sending Zackly to the meeting was a bad decision, he’s likely influenced by his wife’s impending birth that he didn’t focus completely on the task at hand. We’ll have to send Mike on the next meeting we schedule.”

There is a derisive snort. “Come on, Erwin. Mike’s up to his arse handling the conference with our investors next week. He’ll throw a hissy fit if you throw any more at his plate. Why not Eld, or Gunther?”

 _I was right. They are businessmen._ Eren’s lips twitch slightly in amusement as he feels above him for the whiskey bottle to mix into the Irish coffee. He pulls down a bottle and raises it to his nose, sniffing it slightly. There weren’t many instances where customers ordered Irish coffee, so Eren forgets where the whiskey bottle had been placed due to its unuse. He frowns after three consecutive fails – where is that damned whiskey bottle? Behind him the two customers have fallen silent – Eren can feel their eyes on him and he sighs. He’s about to turn and apologize for taking so long when he hears Krista’s footsteps descending from the staircase and he wonders if the heavens have blessed him.

“Krista! Think you can give me a hand here?” he calls. He hears a “Sure, Eren!” and Krista’s running footsteps, which skids to a stop next to him.

“Can you get the whiskey bottle for me please? I’ve been trying to look for it for several minutes now,” he grumbles, and Krista giggles.

“Sure. Thomas moved it next to the chocolate chips jar because we rarely ever use it.” Eren commits that to memory – the chocolate chips jar is placed second last on the shelf, which means that the whiskey bottle is placed at the end. Krista nudges the whiskey bottle between his fingers and he smiles.

“Thanks a ton, Krista,” he says gratefully, and quickly finishes up the drinks, sealing the cups with the lids and turning around, placing them on the counter. “Here you go, sirs. I’m very sorry for the wait.”

There’s a brief lapse of silence, in which Eren could not hear any signs of movement of the customers reaching for their drinks, and he tilts his head to the side curiously. Then one of them speaks and he nearly jumps in surprise.

“Can you not read, brat?” the man with the deep, lazy drawl asks abruptly, and Eren blinks, before realization hits him and he could barely help the amusement that creeps onto his expression.

“Levi!” the other man with the low, baritone voice admonishes. “I’m very sorry for his rudeness, I hope he didn’t offend you.”

“No, it’s okay.” Eren smiles, because he’s so used to the people around him knowing that he’s blind that he hasn’t considered that there is anyone left who doesn’t know of his defect. “You can say that I can’t read in a way.” _Not the conventional way, I guess._ He hears a snort and he tries to hold back a laugh. “It’s either you can read or you can’t read, brat. What does ‘in a way’ mean?”

“It means that there are other ways that people can read.” Now Eren never usually gets mouthy with customers, especially new ones, but the blunt way this man speaks intrigues him. Like he could handle any shit that gets tossed to him and toss it back three times the effect.

“You hear that, Erwin? This brat has got quite a mouth on him.” Eren can’t help the smirk that curls his lips at that statement and he can hear a pleasant, booming laugh, presumably from Erwin. “I doubt there are things that a brat barely out of high school can teach us. What other ways exactly can people read?”

“Through touch.” Eren smiles when there’s a stunned silence; he lets his words sink in for a moment before continuing, “And I graduated from high school, I’m in college.”

There’s no response, and Eren tilts his head to the side, slightly worried – he didn’t exactly shock his new customers into a catatonic state now, did he?

“You … You’re …?”

He raises an eyebrow slightly. “Yes, I’m blind.”

He hears a whoosh of air being expelled in one breath, and he can’t quite hold back a smile. “Geez, kid. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean – “

“Don’t sweat it, really.” Eren waves a hand, a little amused smile playing about his lips. “It doesn’t bother me anymore. I guess it’s half my fault anyway, there are rarely any new customers here, so I got used to everyone around me knowing.”

“Well if that’s not overconfidence, kid, I don’t know what is.” Levi’s blunt statement makes Eren laugh – he’s never met a customer like this before, and he finds himself intrigued with each second that passes by. There’s a brief startled silence as Eren’s laughter echoes throughout the café, then a deep bass chuckle follows.

“Well now, that certainly is one of the most gorgeous laughs I’ve ever heard in my life.” Erwin says, warmth blossoming in his deep, attractive voice, and despite himself, Eren can feel his cheeks heat up. “You managed to make Levi star-struck, and that’s saying something. Is it alright if I ask you for your name?”

“Oh, it’s Eren. Um, Eren Jaeger.” Eren can say honestly that it’s been ages since someone flirted with him so openly – he had dated before, and despite receiving a number of chocolates on Valentine’s, Eren hasn’t dated since. He expected to be rusty at this whole flirtation thing – it’s obvious with the way he’s blushing like some innocent little schoolgirl. He ducks his head, dearly hoping that the two didn’t notice his red cheeks, but judging by Erwin’s amused chuckle, he wasn’t so lucky.

“Well, Eren, it’s certainly a pleasure to come across this café and meet such a gorgeous cashier with the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen.” Erwin’s jesting seems effortless, and it only deepens Eren’s blush to a dark scarlet colour akin to ripe apples. Even if he can’t see Erwin’s smile he can certainly hear it in his voice, and Eren’s been an excellent judge of character so far and he can tell that Erwin is truly being sincere instead of empty flattery. “I’m Erwin Smith, and my rude companion here is Levi Ackerman.”

“I-it’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Eren stutters, then immediately kicks himself. _Why am I stuttering?!_

There’s a snort, and Levi’s voice wafts through. “Well, brat, as gorgeous as those eyes are and this whole Abercrombie and Fitch model thing you have going on, you don’t get customers hitting on you often now, do you? Seeing that you’re blushing and falling over yourself just because Eyebrows here sprouted a few words. Falling for him now are you?”

“Now now, Levi, don’t be jealous,” Erwin reprimands.

“Well if you don’t keep stealing what I have my eye on, Eyebrows, we wouldn’t be having this problem,” Levi retorts, voice smooth with carefully schooled boredom. Erwin’s booming laugh resonates throughout the café, and Eren briefly wonders what place he is at between this impromptu argument over him. So far no other customers have come in yet – that itself is not a surprise since the café is normally quiet at this hour – Eren is not sure where Krista is at the moment but he’s pretty sure she’s somewhere, most probably with her phone in her hand recording the entire thing.

“Well, Eren, I apologize if we made you uncomfortable.” Erwin’s smiling voice is directed at him again, and Eren almost jumps out of his skin. “Will you be working again tomorrow?”

Another derisive snort from Levi. “You sure work fast don’t you, Eyebrows?”

“Um, yes.” Eren’s fingers are drawing little nonsense doodles on the countertop the way he always does when he’s nervous, troubled or flustered, and right now he’s probably a mixture of all three.

“Well, I don’t know about Levi, but I’ll be seeing you again tomorrow Eren.” Eren’s nose catches a sudden whiff of Calvin Klein perfume and he lets out a startled squeak when Erwin leans so close to his ear, he could practically feel the proximity of his presence and he blushes bright red as Erwin cunningly murmurs in his ear, “You’re beautiful, Eren.”

Eren is spluttering when Erwin pulls away, hears his laugh before there is a firm hand on his wrist and he is yanked forward, Levi’s irritated voice dominating his eardrums. “Don’t get fooled by that cunning Eyebrows, Eren, that piece of shit is a sadist.” Levi’s voice gets noticeably lower and huskier, and a shiver rips through Eren as Levi leans close to his face, breath brushing against his lips. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow too, brat. Wait for me.” Eren isn’t sure he’s breathing when Levi releases him; barely hears the cheery _goodbye, Eren!_ from Erwin and _see you, brat_ from Levi as they leave the café. It’s only when he hears the door chime shut behind them that he slumps back against the counter, stunned.

_What the fuck just happened._

 

 

 


	2. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a bit of a writer's block for this, but I think I pulled through? It might be a bit too fast paced for some of you, but I'm not planning on a slow build here, I have certain plans on where this is going, so bear with me lovelies ;)

 

 

Later that night, Eren finds himself at the kitchen table, fingers moving slowly and gracefully over the raised letters of his book. Whilst he is quite adept at reading _braille_ , he still finds reading quite a task and his mind would often wander, causing him to retrace where he had drifted off to re-read again. Armin is sitting across from him, peeling potatoes whilst Mikasa stands at the stove, waiting for the water to boil.

“Tonight’s dinner is curry, Eren.” Mikasa turns to look at her brother, a fond smile curving her lips. Armin once stated that Mikasa only ever smiles when Eren is concerned, and so far, there hasn’t been a circumstance where Mikasa has smiled for anyone else. “Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah.” Eren says, distracted, thoughts flying to the events this afternoon, missing his place in his book again. He swears quietly under his breath, and Armin looks up, an amused, knowing smile playing about his lips.

“Thinking about something, Eren?” he teases, chuckling when his best friend stiffens. “About what happened this afternoon during your shift, I presume?”

“What happened during your shift, Eren?” Mikasa asks immediately, and Eren groans, dropping his head against the table.

“You saw the video Krista sent, didn’t you?” Eren growls accusingly, only for Armin to laugh. True to his prediction, Krista indeed had recorded the entire thing on her phone, and wasted no time in sending the video to the rest of the friends, with a full typed account of what had happened. Eren’s protests had been futile – Krista might be the gentlest, nicest angel amongst them, but even she had a devilish, stubborn streak inside her.

“What video is this?” Mikasa asks again, and Eren groans. “It’s nothing, Kasa,” he pleads. Mikasa raises an eyebrow and turns to Armin instead.

“Armin?”

“I’m ruined,” Eren whines pitifully into the table, shoulders slumped in defeat. Armin chuckles, passing Mikasa the neatly peeled and sliced potatoes.

“Apparently Eren earned himself two dashingly handsome admirers this afternoon during his shift,” Armin explains, grinning at Eren’s obvious pout. “They’re new to the café, and after learning that Eren is blind, cue the fast and furious flirting from the duo. Apparently they couldn’t believe that someone with s _uch gorgeous eyes_ and a whole _Abercrombie and Fitch model_ thing going on is blushing like a virgin when faced with sweet luring words,” Armin teases.

“Armin!” Eren whines. “It wasn’t _that_ bad! And c’mon, it’s been awhile since I’ve been in the dating field okay? They just jumped the gun on me and I was _surprised_!”

“And flattered,” Armin counters, grinning. “After all, you _did_ tell them that you are working tomorrow. You could have lied if you didn’t like them, Eren. Obviously you did.”

“If you are bothered by them, Eren, I can always swing by the café and talk to them for you,” Mikasa suggests, adding the sliced potatoes and cut vegetables into the pot. Eren sighs. “You don’t need to do that, Mikasa,” he says. Plus Mikasa’s _talking_ is just the exact opposite of the word. “They’re not a bother.”

“Aha!” Armin crows, dodging a potato peel that Eren threw at him, laughing. Mikasa clicks her tongue, but the fond amusement in her eyes give her away and the trio spend that night’s dinner with much laughter and teasing for the unfortunate Eren, who got the brunt of it.

*

“Okay, you guys really didn’t have to come.” Eren directs a stern glare in the direction where his friends’ voices are the loudest from his position behind the register. Eren’s shift started only about half an hour ago, but his friends had come traipsing into the café a little over ten minutes ago, taking over an entire two tables pushed together, and Eren just _knows_ that they’re not here for the coffee, but they’re here for entertainment. Entertainment that he’s not exactly willing to provide.

“Oh lighten up, Jaeger, we want a first-class view of this, not from some second-rate phone camera,” Ymir mocks lazily, grinning. “Plus, we gotta see for ourselves who these dashing admirers of Eren’s, right gang?”

“Yeah, Eren, no one’s getting a crack at you without going through us first.” Reiner teases, making the rest of the group laugh and Eren rolls his eyes.

“Why thank you, Dad,” he deadpans, folding up the cloth he had been using to wipe down the counter and putting it away. He thinks that all this fuss is completely unnecessary – he isn’t sure if Erwin and Levi really _are_ going to come by, and he isn’t sure how he’s going to act either if they really _did_ come. Having an audience certainly isn’t helping anything. He can only thank the gods that Mikasa isn’t here – she had tutorial classes that afternoon and was unable to come. Not that she wouldn’t ditch her class to come to the café at a moment’s notice if anything drastic were to happen.

“Just leave them, Eren.” Krista comes up behind him – Eren could practically hear her kind smile in her words. Eren sighs. “Didn’t this all happen because you took that video in the first place, Krista?” Eren laments and Krista giggles. Eren couldn’t help but smile – he can hardly ever get mad at his friends, no matter how irritating or crazy the lot of them are.

“Hey Eren! This month’s delivery for those Robusta coffee beans from Sumatra just came in, I filled some of the canisters with it, I’m putting them on the second shelf next to the condensed milk, okay?” Thomas calls, and Eren nods, pinning the information to memory. His co-workers often tell him where they are going to place things, and Eren is grateful to them for it. They don’t look down on his defect, they are sincerely and cheerfully treating him as one of their own. They usually only need to tell Eren once – Eren’s excellent memory requires no further reminders for even the most insignificant details.

“Okay, Thomas, thanks!”

Thomas claps Eren on the shoulder as he passes by him cheerfully. “No problem, Eren. I’m going to the back of the house for a while – got to sort out the piles of boxes in there. If you need any help, just give me a shout, okay?”

“Good luck with that,” Eren says, grinning. The days where they get deliveries for the café is usually the least favourite days for the employees, since it meant a mountain of boxes to sort through and jot down. None of them liked to perform inventory counts or stock-taking, and the ones who usually get stuck doing it are either Thomas, Krista or Mina. The rest of them, including Eren, have too little patience to sit and go through the inventory, so it was best left to the level-headed ones.

“Hey, Eren, can I get a mocha? With lots of whipped cream please!” Connie hollers, and Eren smiles – whipped cream is always a requirement for Connie, who along with Sasha are completely mad over sweets. Eren would always top Connie’s drinks with double the amount of whipped cream and sometimes top it off with chocolate sprinkles or chocolate sauce. Safe to say, half of the café’s sweet toppings are indulged by Connie and Sasha, who cannot get enough of them. As Eren sets about to make Connie’s drink, the café is steadily filling up with customers, and a pleasant hum of noise hover over the atmosphere. The first floor is occupied by a few college students doing research for their assignments or checking out books, and Mina is the one manning the first floor today. It would be Eren’s turn next week.

Connie’s drink done, Eren debates on calling his friend over or deliver it to the table himself. He doesn’t hear any customers coming in, surely it’ll be okay to leave the register for a few minutes right? Eren has generally memorized the café’s layout by heart, and he feels guilty should he call Connie to get his drink when it’s normal service to deliver it to their table. Decision made, Eren carefully steadies his grip on the steaming cup and makes his way over to his friends’ table. They are stirring up a ruckus as usual, and Eren can’t help but smile – his friends are quite rowdy by nature, and it’s highly likely that they are so engrossed in their chatter that they don’t notice Eren coming over or he would have surely received a lot of lectures and protests from his friends by now for delivering the order instead of having them come get it themselves.

He is so focused on his friends’ voices that he doesn’t hear the door to the café jingle open, and he collides with a solid shoulder, stumbling as a little surprised _oh!_ leaves his lips. He clearly expects to fall but what he doesn’t expect is a strong arm firmly wrapping around his waist, saving him from quite a nasty fall, the mug in his hand jolting a bit and the contents sploshing inside, but otherwise unharmed. His back lands against a solid, firm chest and he hears a familiar chuckle in his ear and his cheeks redden in recognition and horror.

“Well, I didn’t expect to have you fall into my arms so quickly, Eren,” Erwin murmurs huskily in his ear, and Eren splutters, the blush on his cheeks further deepening when he hears his friends’ chatter subsequently cease and he just _knows_ that they are staring at them.

“E-Erwin!” Eren kicks himself because here he is stammering _again_. He blushes, a hand on Erwin’s wrist, trying in vain to push the man away. “Um, can you let go of me please?”

A pleasant chuckle leaves Erwin’s lips and he releases his hold on Eren. Somewhere to his right Eren can hear a derisive snort and he mentally face-palms himself. _Great, Levi is here too and he just saw the entire thing._

“Hey, Eren, you okay there buddy?” Connie calls, and Eren directs a glare in the direction of his snickering friends. He should _never_ have left the register.

“I’m going to charge you twenty percent more for service if you don’t get your drink right now, Springer,” Eren threatens, and Connie immediately scrambles to his feet, rushing over towards Eren to save his precious mocha topped with extra whipped cream from being overcharged. Eren gives his friend a grudging smile when Connie relieves him of his drink, Connie clapping him on the shoulder. He can hear Erwin’s warm chuckle and Levi’s barely suppressed _hmph_ and he supposes that Connie must have given them his signature salute before he scampered back to the table where the rest of Eren’s traitorous friends are snickering.

Eren sighs, rolling his eyes. Well no point in hiding it now. His friends are sharp and it’s likely that they recognize both Erwin and Levi from the video. Before he can stop himself, a pitiful whine escapes his lips, quite forgetting that Erwin and Levi are still standing behind him. He’s going to get a lifetime of teasing for this, he can _feel_ it.

“What’s got your tail into a twist, brat?” Levi’s deep, lazy drawl right next to his ear makes him jump. Levi sounds amused and Eren mentally debates the odds of a hole opening up on the floor underneath his feet to swallow him up. The whole world seems to be laughing at him and can’t Eren be a _little_ miffed about this?

“Nothing.” Eren says childishly, and the corner of Levi’s mouth twitched. _Fuck this kid is cute._

“Is that how you greet all of your customers, brat?” Levi smirks as Eren throws a miffed look over his shoulder at them and         stomps back to the register. _Damn cute._

“Welcome to the Book Nook, _sir_. May I take your order?” Eren is obviously still peeved, and Levi and Erwin can barely hide their amusement as they saunter up to the register where a pouting Eren is standing. The table where Levi and Erwin assume Eren’s friends are sitting are boring holes into their backs, and the two men could only assume that that’s the reason why Eren is acting like a sulky puppy.

“I’d have a _caffe corretto_ and a side order of Eren’s smile, please,” Erwin says effortlessly with a twinkle in his blue eyes, and the effect on Eren is instantaneous – a fiery crimson dusts across the high planes of his cheekbones and Levi would have smacked Erwin upside the head for such a cheesy as fuck line if Eren wasn’t so _cute_.

“Too bad that’s not on the menu, sir,” Eren shoots back, but that tell-tale blush is still burning bright on his cheeks and it’s obvious that he’s still flustered. The corners of Levi’s mouth twitches – can this brat be any cuter? Like, _really._

“Levi?” Levi hums in acknowledgement, still very much fascinated at the fact that despite his defect, Eren could pinpoint his exact direction, those gorgeous eyes looking directly into his. “Do you want anything?”

“Espresso.” Levi reaches his hand up to his collar, loosening his tie slightly, before a smirk flits across his face. “And a piece of that fine ass.”

Eren, who had been keying in his order, noticeably splutters and fumbles, cheeks now a flaming shade of tomato. Even the tips of his ears seem to redden, and Levi and Erwin simply cannot get enough of how _adorable_ he is – Erwin quickly snaps a picture on his phone, to which Eren hears the shutter sound.

“Levi! You can’t just – and Erwin, did you just seriously _take my picture_?” Eren glares at both of them peevishly, hands flying to his red face. He doesn’t even notice that he’s pouting – he spins around, back to the pair sulkily. “ _That’s it_. I’m not talking to you two anymore.” He sets to work making their orders, muttering obscenities under his breath all the while. Levi appreciates the unobstructed view of Eren’s delectable, supple ass through those skin-tight black jeans, lips twitching as he watches Eren bustle about making their drinks, tips of his ears still obviously red. The brat gets flustered so easily that it’s a complete joy to tease him and rile him up, and yet he had such a fiery, sassy side to him that is irresistibly appealing. He peers slightly over his shoulder to the rambunctious group of kids huddled around one table, who are discreetly watching them and nudging each other, grins on their faces. One of them even has the gall to record them on his phone and the side of Levi’s mouth twitches before he turns back to Eren.

_No wonder the kid’s so chagrined. He’s currently the spotlight for entertainment right now._

“Eren.”

“ _No._ Nope. Not talking to you.” Eren huffs sulkily, back still to them, and Erwin can’t quite hide the smile behind his hand, whilst Levi fought to keep his hands still by his sides. _Kid’s so fucking cute, he’s a walking heart attack waiting to happen to sad old men like us._

“Oi Eren.”

Silence.

“Eren.”

 A slight twitch.

“Eren.” Levi’s voice dropped into a husky, silky drawl; Eren jumping and fumbling slightly, almost dropping the condensed milk he was placing back on the shelf. Erwin is watching the event unfold, an amused smile on his handsome face, blue eyes twinkling. A lazy smile curls on Levi’s lips – this brat is amusing to tease; his sadistic side twitching in a very pleased manner.

The pair could see that Eren is at his breaking point – Levi decides that one more small push will certainly send him over. So when Eren finishes their drinks and turns and places them on the counter, Levi catches hold of Eren’s hand as he pulls it away from the cup, and an adorable squeak leaves Eren’s lips when Levi lifts his hand to his lips, kissing Eren’s fingers. “Quit acting like a kicked wet puppy, kid, I might just jump you right on this counter because of how adorable you are right now,” he murmurs against Eren’s fingers, to Eren’s spluttering, red-faced embarrassment.

“You guys are doing this on purpose, aren’t you?” Eren huffs, though the tint of red is still visible on the high planes of his cheekbones. “I knew I should have skipped work today,” he mutters, chagrined; under his breath a moment later, and Levi’s mouth twitches before he lets go of Eren’s hand a tad reluctantly.

“Now don’t say that, Eren, Levi and I will be on our best behaviour from this moment onward,” Erwin promises, placing an elbow on the countertop and leaning his chin on his palm, a small smile dancing on his lips as he observes Eren. Eren looks in his direction dubiously, but seems to relent enough to give them the benefit of the doubt and Erwin’s mouth twitches before he lifts the drink to his lips. “You mentioned you are a college student yesterday, Eren. Where do you go to?” he inquires.

“Trost University,” Eren answers. “I’m in the Fine Arts department.”

Levi arches an eyebrow. “You draw, kid?”

The sides of Eren’s mouth twitches. “A little.”

“That’s incredible.” Erwin says, and he means it. “That’s quite the talent you have there, Eren. I’d love to see some of your works sometime.”

Eren appears to hesitate a little, then seems to come to a mental decision before he reaches behind the counter and withdraws a sketchbook. “I’ve been working on an assignment for a class of mine, and these are mostly rough sketches and they’re not good at all, but you can look through them,” he offers, sliding the sketchbook towards their general direction across the counter. Levi leans slightly closer to have a look as Erwin flips it open, and they both gasp.

“Holy fuck, Eren, are you mad? This is amazing!” Levi stares at the rough pencil sketching of abstract angles and asymmetrical shapes, to which if you were to look at more closely and at a longer time, you could make out the picture of a butterfly spanning across the entire page. It was a play on shapes and optical illusion, with just the barest hint of cross hatching, and the more Levi and Erwin looked at it, the more astounded they were. Eren blushes as he fidgets slightly, but he looks pleased.

“Do you think so? I first sketched that about a week ago. I was waiting for a friend of mine at the steps of my university when it settled on my hand,” Eren explains.

“It? You mean the butterfly?” Erwin asks.

“Yeah. I couldn’t see what it was obviously, but it was so light that I could barely feel it there, so I stayed as still as I could. It left when my friend came, but he saw it before it disappeared and told me it was a butterfly. That was the first time I felt a butterfly – I’ve heard about it, but I’ve never seen it. Later my sister bought a replica of a butterfly so I can feel it – that’s how I sketched this,” Eren explains, a hand absently tracing the shape of a butterfly on the countertop. Erwin and Levi stared at him in mutual incredulity, and Levi was the first to break the amazed silence.

“Fuck, I think I just fell in love.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses for how awful this is. I am so sorry for my incompetence as an author. //formal bow//


End file.
